He continued on another six hundred meters, bringing him a full two thousand or more meters into the cave. The intense cold caused his body to quiver. The Blood Qi buffeted against him, filling his nostrils with every breath he took. Dark, crimson patches had begun to appear on his skin, and his eyes glowed red.
“I’m two thousand or more meters in, only about three hundred meters from the end….” His eyes had shined with more redness. At the moment, his unwillingness to let a matter drop had flared up. He moved forward, the full power of his Foundation Establishment Cultivation base in play. His Dao Pillar thrummed, sending boundless spiritual energy coursing throughout his body. He moved faster, speeding down the tunnel.
In the space of a few breaths, he caught sight of what appeared to be the end of the cave, as well as the sword he had sent in.
As things became clear, he realized that the cave was not twenty-five hundred meters deep as he had thought. Twenty-five hundred meters in was a round platform, in the middle of which was a hole, two meters wide!
The rope, which appeared to be soaked through with blood, disappeared into the deep hole, which seemed to drop down into eternity.
Meng Hao’s sword was embedded into the side of the platform, which was why he had assumed the cave was twenty-five hundred meters deep. He was surprised to see this. But then, his eyes suddenly narrowed; the Demon Sealing Jade was now emitting a massive amount of blinding light. It was then that he noticed a corpse, sitting cross-legged next to the platform!
In the corpse’s hand was an ancient-looking jade slip. This slip also emitted a brilliant glow, as if it were somehow connected to the jade slip he held in his own hand.
Before Meng Hao had the chance to process all of this, a shrill scream filled the air. A blurred figure raced toward him. The mist defended him, but Meng Hao could clearly see a six-fingered hand pressing against it, reaching toward him. It stopped about two meters from him, where a massive conglomeration of lightning resisted it.
A ghastly coldness emanated from the hand, which appeared to belong, not to an adult, but a child!
Boom!
Meng Hao was shoved backward. Eyes flashing, he waved his hand, and the two wooden swords shot toward the indistinct figure. However, despite the swords’ incredible speed, the figure was faster. It dodged and then shot backward to crouch next to the round platform. Underneath the glow of the ancient jade, Meng Hao could not see it clearly.
It had an emaciated body, like that of a feral animal. But upon closer examination, it looked more like a seven- or eight-year-old child. It’s eyes were completely red, and as it stared at Meng Hao, it opened its mouth to reveal black teeth. It screamed.
Meng Hao’s expression was the same as ever, although coldness gleamed in his eyes. Sword auras began to glow around the two wooden swords as they circled Meng Hao. Suddenly, Meng Hao’s eyes narrowed. From within the hole in the flat platform, ten dim streams of light emerged as ten figures appeared which looked exactly the same as the child. They radiated viciousness as they stared at Meng Hao.